The Man inside the Mirror
by nanana-i
Summary: [Adopted plot from Tumblr] Mitsunari continues on grieving for Ieyasu's death. He finds himself feeling empty, and longs to see Ieyasu once more. One day, a merchant presents him a strange mirror, one that shows him Ieyasu's life-a life that's completely different than his. Half Canon-Half modern!AU
1. Prologue

**A/N**: I saw this lovely plot from **uketokugawaieyasu in tumblr** and so I ask if I can adopt the plot, and lucky me, she allows me to! :3 So, well, here it is.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Sengoku Basara nor do I own the plot. Sengoku Basara belongs to CAPCOM and the plot belongs to

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**[Prologue]**

It is a couple of months after Ieyasu's death and Mitsunari still finds himself feeling empty. He finds himself secretly wishing that his death was but a dream and he has never really killed Ieyasu. In that so-called dream, he's weeping for Ieyasu's death and calls him so he'd wake up and face him again. No, it wouldn't be like that in reality. In reality, he'd cry a glorious victory cry and his chest would be full of happiness, now that he has killed the traitor.

Or so he wishes.

Mitsunari may be known for losing himself a lot of times, but really, he's doing a pretty good job on keeping himself sane. And he knows, and fully realizes that Ieyasu is dead, dead by the very hand of his. And one thing for sure, he feels no happiness neither he's satisfied by killing his rival.

On one strange day, an equally strange merchant comes to his castle and presents him a mirror, a simple one, really. Nothing that'll stand out should he place it inside his room. But no, Mitsunari isn't one to be concerned on how he'll look like for the rest of the day. He has his maids and he trusts them on that. So he asks for it to be put inside the storage room, and never checks on that mirror ever since.

Another one strange day, he's suddenly aware of the word that's been going on his castle. He heard some rumors about that mirror being strange, abnormal, and some even dare to say that it's cursed. Mitsunari isn't one to believe in superstition, but as I said, it is one strange day, indeed. Mitsunari heads toward the storage room to check on the mirror.

He stands straight in front of the mirror, eyeing the glass, and nothing is as abnormal as the rumor says. In fact, it's a completely normal mirror. A mirror that reflects him, just like any other mirror. With an annoyed huff, Mitsunari shakes his head, questioning himself on why did he even bother to check out the truth behind that rumor.

As he turns to exit the room, however, he sees a strange shadow passing by inside the mirror. Thus, he stops. Stepping closer while eyeing the mirror with such a concentration, he doesn't even understand why he's being awfully curious on this thing.

Mitsunari must've seen things, now that he sees another person that's clearly not himself on the mirror. The reflection of this 'person' was blurry at first, but the more he stares into it, the clearer the image got.

Mitsunari's breathe hitched, he steps back and trips on his own foot that he violently falls on his back. He quickly regains his composure and crouches in front of the mirror, touching the glass with his trembling hand, he caress the face of that person shown in the mirror.

There is neither doubt nor mistake about it. That person—that person is Ieyasu, looking younger, he may be. But there is no doubt that he _is _Ieyasu. His supposed-to-be-dead rival.

"Ieyasu?" He calls quietly; His voice trembles at the name. Yet the said person doesn't respond to his call. He proceeds on doing whatever he's doing right there.

Mitsunari's eyes widen, he can't help himself but to stare hard into the mirror, watching every single thing that Ieyasu's look-a-like does. He seems to be enjoying himself, laughing with people Mitsunari doesn't know, people he never recalls seeing before. Even among Ieyasu's friends.

Now that he looks at it, Ieyasu's clothes are even stranger. And the people around him are wearing the same clothes as him. Can it be that it is some kind of uniform? Is _this_ Ieyasu has an army as well? If so, what army is it? He looks strange, can it be that Ieyasu isn't actually dead and flees overseas; joining the foreign army—wait, no. That's most likely impossible.

He finds himself wondering about many things that are going on there, on the other side of the mirror. He's so absorbed by his thought that he jumps in surprise as someone knocks the door.

"Mitsunari-sama, are you there?" Asks the person behind the door. Mitsunari recognize that voice. It's the voice of one of his maids. One that has been taking care of him since he was little.

"What do you want?" Asks Mitsunari coldly. The shoji door opens softly, revealing an old lady in her 60's, bowing lowly at her master.

"The food is ready, sir." Says the old lady.

"I'm not hungry." Mitsunari says, huffing as he does.

The old lady raises her head ever so lightly, "But, sir, you've skipped your lunch today. It is important for you to keep your health as the general of—"

"I said I'm not hungry!" Mitsunari snaps, "Don't give me talks about how to be a general! Leave!"

The maid seems to be against the idea of leaving the general alone, she looks as if she wants to plead for her general to eat the dinner once again, but she still values her own life, so she gets up and bows at her master, excusing herself and turns to leave the general alone. But Mitsunari stops her.

"Wait." He calls.

The old maid turns to face her master, "Do you need anything, sir?"

Mitsunari points his index finger at the mirror and says in cold voice, "Bring some man and ask them to move the mirror inside my room. I want it done by the time I'm back from my study."

The old maid tilts her head, eyeing the infamous mirror. She is wondering why her master would ask for a mirror to be located inside his room. But she asks none of it, and nods before leaving the general.

Mitsunari cocks his head toward the mirror. He has to know what is going on, and irregular things such as this don't happen just like that. He has to know everything by the end of the day. _He has to know why in the world does Ieyasu still alive_.

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So how was it? Please review and tell me what you think :3

**Constructive critics are very welcome 3**


	2. Chapter 1: The Man in the Mirror

**A/N: **Thank you for the reviews, favorite, and follows ⊂((・▽・))⊃ ! I know right, the plot is lovely. SO lucky I got the permission to write a fanfiction out of that!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sengoku Basara nor do I own the plot! Sengoku Basara belongs to CAPCOM and the plot belongs to uketokugawaieyasu**

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**[Chapter 1]**

It's dark and rainy outside; it's been like that since the day started—why, of course, it's the rainy season, after all. The sky is dark in the day and it gets even darker as the sun sets. Ieyasu wishes he can go straight home and enjoys a cup of hot tea in this windy day, but no, he can't. He has to stay in the school library, busying himself with stacks of book, researching for his school assignment that's going to meet its deadline soon.

The school library never has many students visiting; in fact, to see one student inside is quite a rare sight in the library. Ieyasu doesn't go to the library, either. He likes book, but he prefer to buy it instead of borrowing it. Besides, the books that are in the school library are really old and there is nothing that has ever caught his interest. That's why he doesn't visit the library.

Sure, Ieyasu heard many dark rumors about the library, but he's not one to be scared of things he can't see, so such things don't concern him at all. He has to admit that the old mirror by the corner of the reading section is quite creepy, though. He always turns his back whenever he's near the mirror, pretending not to see the blurry white image on it. Though he's pretty sure it's only the reflection of the drapes.

Ieyasu was packing his things when a bright lightning came with a deafening noise took off all of the lights. To make the matter worse, the window across the mirror slams open and the strong wind from outside makes his notes flies around the room. Ieyasu runs to shut the window and to lock it properly to prevent his notes from flying outside.

Ieyasu sighs in relief because none of his notes flies outside, but he also heaves a heavy sigh because his notes are shattered all around the room, and he knows it'll be hard to collect them without a proper lighting. All he has now is his phone's flashlight and his phone has only one bar of battery to survive, what luck he has!

Ieyasu starts collecting his notes back lazily; he puts them straight to his backpack every time he picks the note, afraid that the window will snaps open again due the strong wind outside. He smiles as he picks up the last page of his note and reaches for his backpack to put the paper inside, and that's when he realized that he's standing in front of the mirror. And what a coincidence, that's when his phone decides to shut down from the lack of power. Ieyasu grunts in annoyance.

As always, he can see the white blurry image reflected on the old mirror at the corner of his eyes and he pauses. He isn't sure why, but his body pauses its movement and his head slowly looks up to check the curious image on the mirror.

He blinks a few times as he finally looks at the mirror closely, only to see his own reflection blinking as well. He chuckles at himself, of course there will only be his reflection copying his movement on the mirror, why was he scared for?

He shakes his head and returns to put the note inside the backpack. He raises his head and smile at his own reflection, "See you." He said.

But as he was about to turn and leave, he saw a pair of eyes looking straight at him from inside the mirror. Again, he stops his movement to look at the mirror. Ieyasu is pretty sure his heart skips a beat—and it isn't a good thing. The eyes are there, alright. A pair of sharp eyes is looking straight at him, though he isn't sure if they're really there because of the lack of lighting.

He may not be sure if those eyes are real, but one thing he knows for sure—is that his body is telling him to run, so he does.

Ieyasu runs toward the library's exit door and slams the door shut as soon as he's outside. He runs as fast as he can to get to his home which is, fortunately, not far from the school. Some of his friends asks him what happened as he passes by them on his way home, but he's still shaken from the eyes—_those eyes_, and decides to stay silent as he heads home.

Ieyasu swears he wouldn't be able to look at the mirror the same way as before.

* * *

Mitsunari comes back empty-handed from the study room. There is no information whatsoever about the mirror, not even from the children storybook—yes, he looks for the information _that_ far—but he's not giving up. He brings some book along with him to his room for him to look at in the night.

He enters his room to see the mirror is already there, and he walks toward it. Again, the first image that's reflected on it is his reflection, but another image comes up as a blur and becomes clearer in time. He stares at the other person to make himself sure for one more time.

"There is no mistake. It _is _you, Ieyasu." He hisses.

"IIIEEYAASUUU!" exclaims Mitsunari, "You're supposed to be dead! Dead!"

Mitsunari touches the cold glass of the mirror and scratches it with his nails, "Yet why are you alive?!"

He hits the mirror in frustration, "Does the hell and heaven reject you and brings you back to life? Or can it be that I'm seeing your after-life?"

Mitsunari's voice is very loud and to hear the master exclaiming isn't an unusual thing for the maids and servants of the castle. To hear him yelling Ieyasu's name is the most frequent thing to hear. But that was when Ieyasu is alive. They've never heard him doing so ever since.

To hear their master doing it again is a surprise, especially to hear him saying things about Ieyasu being alive. It worries them greatly, but they're too afraid of their master. They call for the senior maid who has always been taking care of Mitsunari since he was a baby.

The old maid comes in hurry as soon as she heard the situation. She knocks the general's room and with a worried voice asks, "What's going on, Mitsunari-sama? Are you alright?"

The maid's question surprised Mitsunari who's still deep in confusion. He snaps his head toward the door and walks toward it, sliding the shoji door harshly.

"I do not ask for you. You are to appear only when I call you. Now leave!" he slams shut the door in her face. The old maid shakes her head sadly,

"I wish for you to find peace in your heart, young master Sakichi." She whispers at herself as she leaves.

Mitsunari walks back and stands straight in front of the mirror again, he calms himself who's still in rage and frustrated over things he can't understand and waits until the blurry image turns into a clear image of Ieyasu again. Now that he feels a little bit better, he decides to quietly watch Ieyasu.

He quietly watches Ieyasu flipping through books on his desk, taking notes from time to time and changing from one book to another after a while. He watches as Ieyasu does the same thing over and over, until the sky in the other side almost completely loses its light. Yet Ieyasu is still continuing his study.

A little while later, he watches Ieyasu as he starts to pack his notes, but a second of bright light that suddenly comes makes his notes shattered all around the room. He watches with slight amusement as he sees Ieyasu runs toward the window to close it in panic.

He watches Ieyasu as he collects his notes, and he realizes that his image is getting closer and closer, until his image is right in front of him. His eyes widened as he sees Ieyasu looking straight back at him, even mouthing something at him. He comes closer to the mirror and touches its cold glass, staring intensely at Ieyasu.

His stare softens as he watches Ieyasu turning as if he's going to leave.

"So he can't see me after all." Mitsunari whispers at nobody.

Ieyasu suddenly stops his movement, and turns back to face him again. This, makes Mitsunari confused, why stop? Is something wrong? His face is pale as if he's looking at a ghost. Mitsunari stares at him, confused. But Ieyasu dashes off suddenly, looking scared as he does.

Mitsunari decides to take a break and tries to put things together. Ieyasu looked casual and relaxed the first time he stared at him, even saying something to him! But then, he looked as if he had seen a ghost.

Wait –

What was that?

He looked as if he had seen a ghost_. A ghost_? A ghost! That's it!

It's not a _ghost_ that he was seeing; it's _him_ that he was looking at!

Of course, he was so casual at first, then panic later. The mirror reflects a normal reflection for a few moments before showing what's on the other side, at least _his_ mirror works that way. But that means—there is another similar mirror on the other side! Mitsunari gasps as he realizes that Ieyasu may be able to see him as well. It gives him somewhat relief that he's not the only one to be in this situation.

Mitsunari turns back to face his mirror, waiting until the image becomes clear and watches Ieyasu as he gets inside his house in hurry, drenched from top to toe. Something inside Mitsunari's mind pops out. It is a question, a question out of his curiousness.

Why can he still see Ieyasu though he's very sure that Ieyasu isn't standing in front of the mirror at that moment?

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Ieyasu slams his door shut in panic. He can still see the sharp eyes that were looking at him. It might just be his imagination since he thinks that the mirror is creepy. It might also be due the lack of light that he thought he was seeing things, and his mind was playing him. But either way, it shocked him greatly.

Ieyasu tip-toes to his room to grab his towel and to set his backpack down, thanks to the heavy rain outside—and to himself who forgot to bring umbrella—Ieyasu is soaked from top to toe. He dries himself a little and opens his backpack to see if the precious notes are wet. He's relieved to see that they aren't. He sneezes and realizes just how cold it is with his clothes drenched, he decides to take a bath and walks toward the bathroom.

Once Ieyasu is done with his bath, he walks toward his backpack to check on his notes, since he wasn't able to recheck the notes he had collect. Ieyasu has a habit to number the page at the bottom of the page, so looking for a lost page would be easy.

He pulls out the notes and assembles it according to the right order of page number. However, as he gets into the 5th page, he finds the page gone. There are the 4th and 6th, but he can't find the 5th. He grabs his backpack and turns it upside-down to make its content falls, but he still can't find the page.

Ieyasu panics, he can't remember the content of the 5th page for him to rewrite since the deadline is in 2 days and he prefers not to go to the library just to collect the lost page. Well, he _does _prefer not to go to the library ever again, but he has no choice but to go. And, God, he hopes it doesn't fall anywhere near the mirror.

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**A/N:** I realized that Mitsunari here is being a little bit rude to the maid （ﾉ´д｀） anw, So how was this chapter?

**Your opinion, constructive critics, and ahempraiseahem are always welcomed!( ˘ ³˘) **


	3. Chapter 2: Talking to the Man

**A/N: **Thank you so much for the reviews, favs, and follows! You guys. are. a-ma-zing :'

Anyways, I have to admit writing this chapter was absolutely enjoyable. I hope you guys will enjoy it as much as I do!

**Disclaimer: SENBASA belongs to CAPCOM and I do NOT own the plot. It's uketokugawaieyasu's~**

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**[Chapter 2]**

Mitsunari didn't sleep that night. He wasn't intending to. He was too excited and confused about the mirror, how it works, and also about the mirror on the other side as well. Does it have the same shape? Can it be that the mirror _there_ is made by the same person? If so, how could Ieyasu have the same mirror? Anyway, all he can conclude now is that Ieyasu is living in a different world than him—or maybe he's just living in a different time than he is right now, though both conclusions don't make any sense to him.

Mitsunari takes a sip of his tea and sighs; this whole thing about the mirror is too much for him. He doesn't have any time to be spent on this matter, now that he rules the country—yet he finds himself getting too curious on this. He shakes his head and grunts, deciding to get some fresh air.

As he strolls around his castle's garden, he spots a place where Ieyasu and he used to play around as a child. They were good friends at that time, playing with each other after the practice finished was their favorite time of the day. Yet, how can they hate each other now—oh, right. It was Mitsunari's fault. Also, the hate wasn't mutual. He was the only one hating, while Ieyasu always tried to make their friendship back to how it was with the power of bonds.

_Bonds._

Mitsunari feels like it was yesterday—just the day before today, that Ieyasu gave him a long, meaningless speech about bonds. He never listened to it, he never does. Yet Ieyasu continues on his speech, while Mitsunari's mind roams elsewhere.

Mitsunari hates the fact that he smiles a little as he approaches the spot—which is only a huge tree with a tiny flowerbed beside it—and sits on it. Somehow, he can see the shadow of his and Ieyasu's young self as they both laughing around, chasing each other like a child they were.

The maids and servants of the castle who are passing by him look confused, why does their lord sitting in the garden when he never does so? Plus, with a tiny little smile on his face! Wasn't he crying for Ieyasu's name yesterday? Has something good happen to him?

The lord stays in the same spot for hours, not moving one bit. He looks peaceful; like he's a completely different person from the person they always see every day. It is only then that the young maids realize just how beautiful their lord actually is. They chat and giggle among each other, talking about the new side of their lord.

The same old maid smiles as she looks at the young lord. She disappears into the building for a moment before returning with a blanket in her hands. With a smile on her face, she carries the blanket toward Mitsunari.

"Sachi obaa-san? What are you doing? He's going to be mad at you." One of the maids warns her.

"That's right! He'll yell at you again. Please come back."

But the old woman continues walking closer toward the young man.

When she's close enough, she crouches down and places the blanket over him, but he doesn't do anything. She turns and smiles at the other maids, walking toward them. The other maids, who are still confused on why didn't the lord respond, stares at her as she gets closer.

The old maid stops right in front of them and chuckles,

"The lord is asleep." She said. She excuses herself afterward.

The young maids gasp. They'd love to see their lord's sleeping face, of course. They just discovered just how beautiful their lord actually is that day and if they can see their beautiful lord's sleeping face in the same day, then God, they'd be the luckiest human alive.

One of the maids gulps and steps forward. The other watches her from afar, a little bit scared just in case the lord wakes up. If he does, then it _might_ be the end of her.

The brave maid steps slowly and softly, so Mitsunari wouldn't be able to hear her step. She stops at a decent distance for her to see his face. But Mitsunari sleeps with his face facing down, so the maid has to carefully crouch down.

The other maids watch her with a mix feeling of envy, curious, and horror. They watch their comrade as she tilts her head to be able to see the lord's face. They can see her blushing a second later as she stares at the lord's face.

And that's when Mitsunari decides to wake up, making the staring maid jumps in surprise. Mitsunari rubs his eyes and looks at the jumping maid with a confused gaze.

"What is it?" Mitsunari asks coldly.

Now, it's up to her to make up an excuse so she wouldn't get beheaded. "I—you w-were a-asl-sleep, milord. And I was…" She spots the blanket at the corner of her eyes, "I-I was just getting you a blanket, s-sir."

At that, Mitsunari looks down to his lap, where the blanket is. He nods and gets up, handing the blanket to the maid without a word. He turns to head back to his room, and spots a group of young maids—who immediately disbanding themselves as they realize that the lord is looking at them.

"And what about—them?" he points at the maids.

The young maid looks into her brain to look for an excuse that'll make sense, "T-They are the ones telling m-me that y-you were sleeping, s-sir."

Mitsunari nods and continues walking. He doesn't have much time, yet how can he allow himself to sleep in _that place_? He shakes his head, frustrated.

No, he will not rest until he finds out more about the mirror—or maybe just about Ieyasu.

* * *

Ieyasu couldn't focus on today's lecture. He imagines himself going to the library to fetch his missing note, and finds the same pair of eyes once more.

Since he got home yesterday, he didn't look at the mirror at all. He passed every mirror in his house quickly, like he's being chased by someone. He didn't even look at the mirror as he did his hair that morning. That's why some of his friends laugh at him, saying that it looked horrible, and fix it for him.

Being paranoid over mirror sucks, that's for sure. And he hopes to end his paranoia as soon as possible—but he can't do it with his friends present since he can't even talk to his friends about what happened. So he has to wait until the last bell of the day rings and all of his friends left.

Ieyasu steps into the boys' toilet and immediately spots a big mirror in its usual place. He gulps hard, stepping slowly toward the mirror. He never takes his eyes off from his own reflection as he steps closer to it.

He stops right in front of the mirror, eyes on his own reflection. The reflection shows his pale self, sweating and looking absolutely terrified. But that's pretty much what happens to him at that moment, so the reflection must be correct.

Ieyasu stays in the same position for what it seems like forever to him, yet nothing irregular occurred. He sighs in relief; maybe the pair of eyes was just his own imagination. Smiling at his own reflection, he steps back and exits the rest room with a lighter feeling.

The first thing Ieyasu do as he steps into the library is checking the light. Thankfully, the light works perfectly this time. He then begins looking for his note. He decides to check the front section of the library, since he seriously hopes that it doesn't fall anywhere near the back section, where the mirror is. But he can't find the note anywhere in the front section, so he has no choice but to go to the back section.

Though he's now convinced that the eye he was seeing the previous day was nothing but an imagination, he prefers not to go there, since the back section _is_ creepy. But as soon as he got into the back section, he almost immediately spots the note. The note is just below the seat he was sitting at yesterday.

He picks the note and place it inside his bag, ready to go back home. But something—he's not sure what, makes him steps closer toward the mirror instead. His eyes never left his own reflection—just like he did in the boys' restroom.

Again, the only thing shown is his own reflection, and he smiles at it. Now that he feels a lot better, he decides to touch the mirror as a sort of apology to the mirror for being unreasonably frightened at it.

The eyes, again, reflected on the mirror out of nowhere, and Ieyasu draws back his hand, falling on his back. He can feel his body shivers in horror as the mirror shows not only a pair of eyes, but also a complete body of a silver haired man.

Ieyasu's body refuses to move, and all he can do is to stare at the man in horror. The other man's eyes widened, and he crouches down to match his eye level with Ieyasu. He mouths something to Ieyasu, but he can't read his mouth movement. The other man hits the mirror, but Ieyasu can't hear any sound from it.

Ieyasu watches the man as he fetches something—is that paper and brush?

_Brush?_

_Why would he use brush? _

Now that he looks carefully, the man's attire is odd—wait, not odd, but old. He's definitely wearing traditional clothing, though it looks so fine and elegant, and not to mention, majestic. Who wears that kind of clothing in this era?

No longer feeling as scared as he did, he watches as the man writes something with his brush. Seconds later, he puts down his brush and shows his writing to Ieyasu.

"Can you see me?" It says.

Ieyasu grabs his bag and looks for something to write on. He pulls out a sketchbook he always brings everywhere and a marker to write. He flips on its page to find a blank page, and writes,

"Yes." He answers.

The man, still looking as confused as he is, stays still on his position. Ieyasu decides to ask him a question this time.

"What's your name?" He asks.

The man writes a reply to him,

"Ishida Mitsunari." The beautiful writing says.

Ishida Mitsunari. Ieyasu feels familiar to the name. It sounds like a name from his history lesson. He has to look for the name in his text book.

"And who are you?" Mitsunari asks.

"Tokugawa Ieyasu."

Ieyasu can see Mitsunari's eyes widened as if his name also rings a bell to him. Well, to be honest, it always rings a bell to everyone, since he has the same name as the infamous Mikawa's daimyo from centuries ago.

If he's not mistaken, then Tokugawa Ieyasu's last and most famous battle was The Battle of Sekigahara, in which he fought his own ex-comrade during the era of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The battle was between him and—

Ieyasu's eyes widened, The Battle of Sekigahara was the Battle between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Ishida Mitsunari! He remembers now. Can it be this man has the same fate as he does? To be born under the same name of the warrior of the past? But his attire, his way of using brush—can it be that he's the man himself?

_Okay, what's going on?_

Ieyasu was about to ask him something, just to verify things down, but he can hear someone's footsteps getting closer. He quickly turns, and sees one of his teachers behind him.

"Tokugawa-kun, why haven't you headed home?" He eyes Ieyasu, who are sitting on the floor with a sketchbook in his hand in front of the mirror. "What are you doing? Why are you sitting in front of the mirror—on the floor? Can't you drag a chair instead?"

Ieyasu scratches the back of his head, he puts the sketchbook inside his bag, chuckling,

"I felt like learning on drawing a person sitting on the floor but I don't have any good pose reference, so—yeah."

"So you make yourself the pose reference?" The teacher shakes his head. "Well then, are you done? Because the school is about to be locked down."

"Yes, I was just about to pack my things! Thank you, sensei!" Ieyasu bows at the teacher as he leaves.

Ieyasu turns to face the mirror, and sees Mitsunari still there. He bows at him, waves, and though he knows that Mitsunari won't be able to hear him, says, "I'll come back tomorrow."

He then left the library. He's not sure why, but he doesn't feel scared at all. Rather, he's feeling way more confused than scared. He was talking—well, writing—with a reflection of a man that's not supposed to be there. But seeing Mitsunari himself looking as confused as he is, he has to admit that he's strangely feeling somewhat relieved that he's not the only one confused.

Either way, he has to confirm something.

_The name_.

Was he really talking to a historical figure? How can he be there?

Questioning himself won't help, he knows. Anyway, he has to come back tomorrow. That's for sure.

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**A/N: **So how was it?

**Your opinions, constructive critics, and well, *cough*praise*cough* are always welcomed!**


	4. Chapter 3: Gathering Informations

**A/N: I'm sorry for the late update! ASDFGHJKL blame school, k? I'm in the middle of midterms so even though I target this story to _update every week_, I didn't have time to write new chapter orz. This chapter is short too. I'm so sorry :'(**

**But I hope you guys'll enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

**Disclaimer: SenBasa belongs to CAPCOM and the plot belongs to uketokugawaieyasu at tumblr!**

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**[Chapter 3]**

Ishida Mitsunari is _far_ from finding peace. If anything, _peace_ is the last thing he thinks he'll find at this moment. It seems that he stressing out about this whole mirror thing isn't enough to amuse the Gods—or maybe the Gods just love to see him suffer. Because he just talked—well, wrote—to Ieyasu who is in the other side of the mirror.

They talked to each other through their writing—although, what was that foreign thing Ieyasu used to write on his paper? The lines that were made by that white-handled thing were really clean, unlike his brush. He has to ask it to Ieyasu the next time they talk.

But asking Ieyasu about everything won't help, since he's _very _sure that Ieyasu doesn't know what exactly is going on. That was clearly shown by his terrified face he made before they started talking. But as soon as they started talking, his face didn't look as terrified as he did. In fact, he looked relaxed and calm.

How can he be calm? Is Mitsunari the only one getting too curious about this whole thing that is going on? Doesn't he want to know how can two different worlds connect through a mirror?

Mitsunari stormed out of his room, he rushes toward the library—again. He has lost his count on his visit to the library, yet he's yet to find a single clue about this—let alone the answer.

Mitsunari slams open the library door, and find the old maid, Sachi, in the middle of tidying up the Library. As soon as she noticed the lord's present, she bows down to him. Mitsunari nods and enters the library, scanning through the books and scrolls there.

Seeing the lord looking so focused on his search, the maid decides to leave him alone and excuses herself. She can feel the dark aura surrounding him, and should she bother him, she knows that he might get her head off. So she leaves him to do her remaining work of the day.

As the sun about to set, Sachi decides to check on the library, to see if the lord is still there. As one of the senior maids that has been working in the clan for so long, she knows Mitsunari when he was called Sakichi. Sakichi, just that. No family name, nothing. And she knows just how absorbed Mitsunari can be when he wants to find out something.

In the older days, Mitsunari would spend the whole day in the library, denying eating, though gladly accepting drinks to accompany him. The maid isn't even sure if Mitsunari is trying to find something out, but seeing the way Mitsunari scanned through the bookshelves and scrolls, she knows he is.

The maid opens the library door slowly, and feels somewhat relieved to see that the lord is no longer there. Has he found the answer, she wonders. She smiles and closes the library door, deciding to make her way to the kitchen and cooks something for Mitsunari. And God, she hopes he'll eat it.

As Ieyasu got home, he immediately turns his laptop on. He's not sure why doesn't he feel scared about the whole thing, but he _is_ curious, as curious as one can be. He changes his uniform as he waits for the computer to start up and opens the internet when it has.

Upon opening the internet, he froze. He realizes that he has no idea what to search on the internet. He isn't even sure if the internet even has the answer. Ieyasu's index finger taps on the laptop's touchpad, not knowing what to do.

Suddenly, an idea pops up inside his head. He might not find the answer inside the internet, but he might find some superstition or mythologies regarding the matter—or maybe just about a mirror, but that works just fine, too. It's better than not knowing anything.

* * *

Mitsunari was reading one of the scrolls he brought to his room when he hears the familiar voice of Sachi, the old maid. He sighs, he knows that she's there to bring him food—and again, he can care less about food right now. But he lets her in, anyway.

The old maid opens the door slowly, gracefully like she should. She brings the food inside and eyes the tall pile of books and scrolls at the corner of the room. Normally, she'd leave it be, but somehow, she is far too curious and worried to leave it be this time. So, she gathers her courage and asks the young general,

"What kind of information are you looking for, milord?" She asks.

Mitsunari furrows his eyebrow, unpleased. He growls, "What does it concern you?"

"Please forgive me, milord," She bows and eyes the pile at the corner of her eyes, "It's just—you've been going in and out of library lately."

"And it's your business because?" He asks, still not pleased.

The maid shakes her head, "It's not, milord. But if you don't mind, if it's something that I can help," She bows even lower, "I humbly offer my help."

Mitsunari eyes the maid who's still bowing so low he's sure that her forehead touches the floor. He considers the offer. Can he trust her? Will she tell on someone? Will she consider him out of his mind should he tells her about what he sees in the mirror?—wait, he doesn't have to tell her about the vision. He can just order her to look for the information.

He nods, "You may help." She raises her head, "but I have conditions, two of them."

"Anything, milord."

"One; don't question anything I ask you to look for. Two; do _not_ tell on anyone about this. I'm sure these conditions are easy enough," Mitsunari glanced down to meet the maid's eyes. "So, will you—or will you not agree on this conditions?"

To be honest, the maid has a feeling that what they are looking for is something confidential—something that even she isn't suppose to know. But the lord seems to trust her enough on this matter, and she'd be lying to say that she's not proud of herself.

"I swear that I won't tell anyone, nor will I question your orders, milord."

Mitsunari nods and says, "Look for the merchant's name who gave me _this _mirror," He points at the mirror, "and look for _any _information about him."

At his order, she flinches. She has suspected that this is all about the mirror. There must be something about the mirror. Can it be that those rumors about the mirror true? Is it really a cursed mirror? No, it can't be. If it is cursed, then the lord wouldn't be a fool to place it inside his own room. Anyhow, the only thing she can do right now is to do as the lord orders and by that, she'll also know what exactly is going on.

"Very well, milord. I'll ask other maids and servants, and the guards too." She says.

Mitsunari nods, pleased. He then dismissed the maid after. The maid leaves him alone again after that. She asked for the lord to enjoy the food before she left.

_Right, the food._

Mitsunari groans, he eyes the food, and shakes his head. He isn't hungry, but he hasn't eaten since yesterday and he hates to see the food wasted, now that it's already inside his room. Mitsunari sits down and picks his chopsticks, feeding himself slowly.

* * *

Ieyasu scrolls down on the internet page. He's reading about this myth in China in which there is another world that's basically separated by the mirror. He can easily decide that _that _is the condition right now, but it said that the world in the other side supposed to have completely different looking creatures living there.

But looking at the completely normal-looking Mitsunari, he decides that it isn't the case. Ieyasu, however, can't seem to find another stories about a parallel world that's being separated by a single mirror. He wants to know what's going on, but he can't even have any clue that leads him anywhere closer to the answer.

Ieyasu scratches his head and lies back, not knowing what to do. He pictures of Mitsunari—his porcelain skin and silver hair are far too beautiful for him to forget. Especially that silver hair, so rare and so very beautiful. Ieyasu himself has only met one person who also owns silver hair, and he's an internet friend. So they don't really get a chance to meet up very often.

Is Mitsunari an albino like his friend?

Well, he can pass as an albino with that skin and hair color, Ieyasu shrugs. Ieyasu rolls to the side, and he spots a textbook that's lying down under his table. He isn't sure what book that is, so he crawls and picks the book.

It's his old picture history book. He remembers his brother bought it for him to tell him story about Tokugawa Ieyasu, the historical figure who's also the origin of his name. Ieyasu smiles and opens the book, reading the book enthusiastically.

But after a few pages, he got an idea and closes the book, putting it in the shelf this time. He turns back to the laptop and searches for Ishida Mitsunari.

_Well, if he can't find anything that's related to the strange event, he might as well searches for the person he's talking too, yes?_

* * *

**Again, I'm sorry, this is really short **

**But anyway, what do you guys think about this chapter?**

**[I****f any of you guys know some myths or legends or superstition about mirror, do you guys mind to PM me? Thank youu]**


	5. Chapter 4: Time

**A/N: **Thank you for understanding my current situation, guys :' but the midterm is over so there is only one more thing I have to do. I'm going to have my sweet 17 next Sunday, and I'm going to be busy with the preparations, so expect either **early update **or **late update**. I'm sorryyyy( ≧Д≦) But I promise I won't abandon this story ＼（＾▽＾）／

**Disclaimer: CAPCOM owns Senbasa and uketokugawaieyasu owns the plot. I only owns some OCs.**

* * *

**[Chapter 4]**

It seems Ishida Mitsunari wasn't very liked among the other daimyos, or so the internet told Ieyasu. Ieyasu tilts his head, wondering why. He has read his biography and though Ieyasu isn't an expert, he can conclude that Mitsunari _is_ one hot-headed person, indeed.

Ieyasu's reading is focused on Mitsunari's relationship with Tokugawa Ieyasu and he finds out that Mitsunari _hates _Ieyasu, for him to try to assassinate Ieyasu, though it almost kills him instead, should it wasn't for—ironically—Ieyasu's help. Ieyasu would be lying to say that he isn't proud to have the same name as Tokugawa Ieyasu, the historical figure that's said to have a kind heart and huge patience. It is a shame that he was slain by Mitsunari in the battle of Sekigahara.

Yet Ieyasu finds himself a little bit happy that Mitsunari survives the battle. Because if he doesn't, he won't be able to talk to him—though he isn't sure that _this _Mitsunari is the same as the Mitsunari written in his textbook and internet.

Ieyasu looks for Mitsunari's portrait during the era, yet he can't find any that pictures him as a silver-haired man, and the portrait is the portrait of him in his 30s—maybe. The Mitsunari he met is far younger than the one in the portrait, yet he has a beautiful silver locks, as rare and strange as it is.

Ieyasu unconsciously yawns, and he turns to check on the clock. It is 01:45, no wonder Ieyasu is feeling tired. He scratches his head and turns his laptop off, then walks toward the bathroom lazily. He picks his toothbrush and begins brushing his teeth. As he looks at himself in the bathroom mirror, he experimentally waits to see if Mitsunari will also appear on this mirror.

So he waits.

**.**

**.**

**.**

And decides to stop waiting.

Ieyasu washes his mouth and yawns, seeing nothing appear on it, he decides to stop and heads back to his room. As he walks, he thinks of some possibilities that might work.

**One**; Mitsunari didn't appear because Mitsunari wasn't in front of the mirror in the other side.

**Two**; it is up to the mirror to show or not to show him.

**Three**; it only works on the mirror in the library.

And **Four**; he's just isn't lucky.

Ieyasu lies down on his bed and closes his eyes. Well, there is nothing he can do about it right now, is there? He decides to rest and looks for another clue after he wakes up.

* * *

Sachi decides to look for the information the lord orders the other evening. She has asked almost all of the maids in the castle about the merchant who gave the mirror to the young general. She can't help but to smells something fishy going on in the castle.

All of the maids she has asked gave her the same answer,

"Merchant? What merchant? It's been a while since anybody comes visiting the castle, hasn't it?"

No.

It's only been 1 month since the mirror presented to the lord—though it is only for a few days that the lord begins to act strangely.

But the old maid can understand that not all maids are aware of visits in the castle, for they are too busy doing their own duty. So she decides to ask to the guards instead.

Yet strangely, their answer is no different to the maids she asked. What is going on? The old maid wonders. Does the merchant use some kind of dark sorcery to erase their memory of him? If so, why doesn't it affect her? The maid shakes her head to clear her mind, and decides to report to the general for the meanwhile.

* * *

Just because he asks for the maid to look for information for him, it doesn't mean that he'll sit back and wait until the maid reports to him. Mitsunari continues on looking for clues, and when he doesn't, he'll be in front of the mirror, observing Ieyasu.

Ieyasu's routine is typical. It's almost the same as the day before, and the day before that. He goes to school in the morning and he'll come back in the afternoon. At least that's what he sees from the mirror. But now that Ieyasu can see him—_knows_ that he can see him, he comes back to a room that looks like a library and, well, his image suddenly got so close and after a moment, they're looking at each other face to face.

Just like the Ieyasu he knows, _this_ Ieyasu smiles a lot. And it's a little bit painful for Mitsunari, because the way they are interacting right now is _exactly_ the same as the way as Ieyasu and he used to interact when they were both still in the Toyotomi Army.

"Hi." says Ieyasu with a huge grin on his face. Mitsunari doesn't feel the need to waste his ink just to replies this text, so he nods instead. Ieyasu nods back and writes something, "How was your day?"

Mitsunari sighs, it's very "Ieyasu" to do a small talk before he _really_ talks. Mitsunari answers him with a shrug. He then picks his brush and writes on a paper, "What's that thing you use to write?"

Ieyasu looks confused for a moment, he points at his marker, and Mitsunari nods. Ieyasu blinks for a moment, and says, "It's called marker. You don't have it there?"

Mitsunari frowns, "If I have it, I wouldn't ask you what that is, would I?"

Ieyasu scratches his head and claps his hands to say that he's sorry. Mitsunari sighs and nods. "Where do you live?" Ieyasu asks.

"Osaka Castle." He answers simply.

Ieyasu looks like he's thinking for a while, and Mitsunari leaves him be. He waits, and after a moment, Ieyasu writes something, "What year is it there?"

Mitsunari calmly answers, "1600."

And right after that, Ieyasu suddenly stands up; he looks very, greatly shocked. Mitsunari watches him silently as Ieyasu walks in circle, with a huge smile on his face, though at the same time, he looks shocked and confused.

After a little while, Mitsunari doesn't have the patience of seeing him walking back and forth. He decides to ask him, "What are you doing? Sit down and talk to me."

Ieyasu 's grin goes wider—if that's even possible—and writes him back, "I think I know who you are. But I need to confirm it."

Mitsunari furrows his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"Did you work under Toyotomi Hideyoshi?"

Mitsunari's eyes widen. _He knows who Lord Hideyoshi is. _"Yes." _So did you._

"And you fought Tokugawa Ieyasu in Sekigahara?"

Mitsunari grows more and more confused. _Is he really the Ieyasu he knows? _"And killed him there, yes."

He watches as Ieyasu claps his hands like he has accomplished something. "I know who you are!"

_Does he? _"Who am I?"

"You are Ishida Mitsunari, a famous historical figure. That means we probably live in the same world—but in a different time!"

Mitsunari's eyes widen, _he knows him? He's a historical figure? They are separated by time?_ Mitsunari writes hurrily, hands shaking from great shock, "What year is it there?"

"2014." Ieyasu merely answers. His grin as wide as it can get, and it reminds him so much of _another_ Ieyasu.

Mitsunari gasps, _that's 414 years in the future._ Now it's Mitsunari's turn to think. He turns silent, and probably would stay silent if Ieyasu doesn't show him another of his writing.

"How does Tokugawa Ieyasu like?"

_Exactly like you. _"Why does it matter?"

"Out of curiosity. Because I was named after him." Ieyasu smiles.

Mitsunari sighs, "Annoying."

And he watches as Ieyasu laughs. He can't hear his laugh, but somehow, he can hear his voice—_that_ Ieyasu's laughing voice. He frowns, why does he remind him so much of Ieyasu? The pain is a little bit too much for him to bear—yet there is nothing he can do about it.

Just as he's about to tell Ieyasu to stop laughing, he hears Sachi's voice from outside. He quickly writes, "I need to go. I'll see you tomorrow."

Ieyasu stops laughing and nods, but just after he nods, he quickly writes something on his book, but Mitsunari hears Sachi asking for permission to come in, and he decides to turn away from the mirror and lets her in before she grows suspicious.

"Come in." He said.

The Shoji door slides slowly, and the old woman quickly yet gracefully comes inside the lord's room. She bows low to him and with a worried face said,

"There is something going on here." She reports.

Mitsunari frowns, "What do you mean?"

"The maids, servants and the guards—they have no memories of the merchant."

Mitsunari frowns.

_What?_

* * *

**Notes: **

Mitsunari wins Sekigahara here, that's why he's able to communicate with Ieyasu.

I found the information about Mitsunari-as real historical figure-hating Ieyasu from a blog. I forgot the link, sorry

Also, I make an OC(Sachi) to accompany Mitsunari because I don't think Mitsunari will be alright by his own :' I wanted to insert gyoubu but gyoubu is dead, and so is Sakon. So-yeah :'

**Anyway, How was this chapter?**


	6. Chapter 5: For Him

**A/N: **HIIII! I'm only a day late. Yippeee33 Last Sunday was my sweet17 party so I couldn't post it on weekends. But I'm free now! So there shouldn't be delays on update anymore.

**News: **There'd be a translation to Bahasa Indonesia by **Kaien-aerknard**. Please look forward to it, guys! (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

**Disclaimer: **Sengoku Basara is **CAPCOM'S **and the plot belongs to **uketokugawaieyasu**

* * *

**[Chapter 5]**

Ieyasu panics as he sees Mitsunari turns around, facing away from him. He knocked the glass several times before he remembers that Mitsunari will not be able to hear him. He sighs and looks down to his lap, where the sketchbook is. The writing on the sketchbook reads,

"Tomorrow is Saturday. I'm not sure if I'd be able to see you."

Ieyasu sighs, it's true. He isn't lying. He's not sure in which mirror he can see Mitsunari aside from this mirror. And he's afraid that if he doesn't come to visit Mitsunari tomorrow and _if_ Mitsunari waits for him—but of course, he wouldn't appear to talk to Mitsunari no matter how long he waits if it's on Saturday—or Sunday. After all, he doesn't have school on Saturday and the mirror is inside the school library—and the school is locked during day off!

Ieyasu scratches his head and shrugs. Well, he doesn't know where else he can see Mitsunari and hopefully, he'd managed to see him somehow.

Ieyasu shakes his head and grabs his bag. He turns to face the mirror, and sees that Mitsunari's image fades to almost invisible. He smiles at what's left from Mitsunari's image and waves gently, though he knows that Mitsunari probably doesn't see him right now.

* * *

"What do you mean that they don't remember anything about the merchant?" Mitsunari growls, clearly not pleased.

The old maid bows low to him, "I—I don't understand either, milord. But—but nobody remembers about the merchant anymore."

Mitsunari can feel the anger building up inside him. He grabs his sword and stomps toward the shoji door. Upon seeing this, Sachi rushes toward the door, blocking Mitsunari. She quickly bows at the furious Mitsunari.

"What are you doing?! Move!" the general commands. Yet the old maid stays still in her place.

"Please, please forgive them. I'm sure they didn't mean to forget about the merchant." Sachi pleads.

Mitsunari hisses, "Why should I forgive them? They work for me. They work for me yet they can't even do their job correctly. It's not even a year since the merchant's visit and they—" he cuts himself, growling in anger.

Sachi bites her lip; it's true, though, what he said. It hasn't been that long, yet—something must be going on here. But she knows that if she doesn't stop him, he might kill the entire worker inside the castle but her.

She thinks hard, trying to find a word that might save her colleagues. The old maid shuts her eyes and tries to review everything she knows about the merchant.

The merchant came during the most peaceful day of the year. He came in the morning of the New Year, and since everybody celebrated the New Year merrily during the night, nobody was awake during that time. Of course the workers of the Castle were awake, although they were very, very tired and sleepy.

But that didn't make them slack off, especially the guards. They are the ones who choose who can and cannot meet the general. They are very well-trained and there is no way that they allow dangerous person to pass the gate to meet the general.

The merchant was allowed to go inside—and that means he's most likely a not dangerous person. The merchant brought a mirror, and if the mirror passed the gate, then it isn't supposed to be a dangerous thing.

"Milord," She starts, "The merchant passed the gate—you know very well that the guards do their job very well. I'm sure he's not a dangerous person. Forgive my rude statement, but I think there will be no need to be suspicious toward the merchant."

Mitsunari stares down at the maid, still not pleased. "The guards don't do their job well enough! What kinds of guards forgot who comes and go? Slacking off is unforgivable!"

Mitsunari steps forward, but the maid blocks him again, "Please, milord. Killing them won't solve the problem. If anything, it'll only make us—make _you_ clueless."

Mitsunari stays silent this time. He turns around and returns to his seat. The maid sighs in relief and walks slowly to sit in front of the lord. Neither opens their mouth, neither starts talking.

"So, say they do their job very well. Then who might the merchant be? He passed the gate. He must be someone." Mitsunari asks, "He passed the gate, he must've had urgent reasons."—he demands for answer. _Any_ answer.

The old maid shakes her head hesitantly, "I—I, forgive me, milord. I can't find any answer that'll please you."

Mitsunari furrows his eyebrows and shakes his head, frustrated. "Were you there when the merchant came?"

The maid stops to think, _Was she?_

In normal occasions, she's _supposed_ to be there, for she's one of the most trusted maids by Mitsunari. Yet she can't seem to remember if she was there or not.

The maid gasps slowly—almost inaudible. What's with her? She usually remembers all kind of visitors of the castle. No, no, no, it can't _also _be happening to her. She has good memory, but she's old—that's right. That must be what's happening to her right now. She's only getting forgetful, that's all.

"I wasn't, milord." She answers, trying to sounds like she's certain—though she isn't.

Mitsunari nods—to be honest, he wasn't really paying any attention to his surroundings. He doesn't even remember the merchant's face anymore. All he remembers is that the merchant presented him a mirror, and that's it.

Mitsunari sighs and waves his hand, "Leave me alone."

Sachi bows to him and rises; she bows to him once more and turns to leave. But as she gets in front of the door, she pauses and turns to face Mitsunari again.

"So what am I to do next?" She asks.

"Continue looking for any information about the merchant." He orders.

"Very well, milord." And she steps outside the room, bows to the general once more, and leaves.

Mitsunari sighs, he's finally alone. He heads to the mirror and waits until Ieyasu appears. When he has, Mitsunari touches the mirror and caresses the smooth surface. He touches his forehead to the mirror, and frowns.

"Ieyasu." He calls his name softly—even he's surprised at the hint of gentleness in his own voice.

Mitsunari removes his hand from the mirror and clutches his clothes' sleeve. He turns away from the mirror and leans on his back, sliding down until he's once again seated on the floor.

* * *

Ieyasu gets home worried. He has stared at every mirror he passed along the way, but Mitsunari doesn't appear in any of it. He tried it once in his bathroom's mirror and it didn't work, either. He really hopes that it was just because he wasn't lucky—but that doesn't seem to be the problem, since it always works in the library's mirror.

One thing that he's absolutely afraid of is that the library's mirror is the only mirror that can show him Mitsunari. Because that means he wouldn't be able to see Mitsunari every day. He won't be seeing him on weekends and though he doesn't know why, he feels a little bit lonely from just thinking so.

As soon as he arrived at home, Ieyasu heads toward the bathroom to test it once more. He waits for a few minutes, but Mitsunari doesn't appear. In the school's library, Mitsunari would probably appear after 15 seconds, but he waits for minutes _everywhere_ and he never appears.

Ah, he knows now.

His greatest fear is actually the truth.

Ieyasu clenches his fists until he starts to feel the pain. He wants to curse so badly—but he doesn't really swear, so he tries to calm himself down instead. When he has, he washes his face just to cool himself down and steps out of the bathroom.

Ieyasu walks slowly toward his bedroom, dragging his feet lazily. His mind is full of Mitsunari. He _has_ to see Mitsunari—at least tomorrow, just to explain why he won't be able to meet him during weekends. He's pretty sure that Mitsunari would be upset if he doesn't explain anything to him, so he _has _to. He just has to.

Ieyasu goes straight to his bed and lies down. He doesn't know what he has to do in situations such as this, and he is completely clueless right now.

Should he try to sneak in?

But how is he supposed to do that?

Ieyasu shuts his eyes and tries to relax—and thinks very hard. He's been there before—at school when it's closed. He tries to picture what he saw that day. The extremely tall school gate was closed, and was pretty impossible to climb; but there was a pretty tall tree, so he climbed and succeeded getting in. He'd do the exact same thing as he did that day.

Next, he remembers walking around the school building, to see if there is an open path for him to get inside. He saw an open window by the club room and went inside from there—it was the cooking club's room, which is almost always open, by what he sees. There is some times where it doesn't, but he sure hopes it'll be open tomorrow.

Lastly, he needs to figure out how he is supposed to get inside the library. Sure, he succeeded on getting inside his classroom that day. But then again, when he checked the library's door that day, it was locked. The room he might be able to get the key to get the access to the library is—the teacher's room. But of course, it'd be locked.

Ieyasu sighs; he shakes his head and rolls to the side.

"There must be some people—some other people who carries the key besides the teachers." Ieyasu mumbles to himself.

People who carries the key—

The ones who can go anywhere—

Is—

Suddenly an Idea pops up inside Ieyasu's head,

_-Are _the Janitors.

Ieyasu smirks. The Janitor room is _never closed_ not sure if the key would still be inside the room when the school is closed—but _it's worth a try._

Wait. Why is it worth a try? It's only been a few days since he first met Mitsunari. Why is he willing to go _this far_, just to meet him?

Ieyasu pictures Mitsunari—silver haired and never smiles, but he has this strange _thing_ that makes Ieyasu drawn to , of course it's because they're both in the same situation—isn't it?

Ieyasu chuckles at himself, what was he thinking? Of course there is nothing more than that isn't there? He's only trying to be friends with him to finds out more about this strange event, nothing more. He smiles and shuts his eyes to sleep.

_For a second there, I thought I like him._

* * *

_I'm disappointed at myself for the last two chapters, tbh. I think it's because I wrote it in hurry, so It didn't work out very well. (o;TωT)o I'm sorry. But I hope this one is better? What do you think? (ι´Д｀)ﾉ_


	7. Chapter 6: He's but a Stranger

**A/N: **See? Normal update! This chapter is fully Mitsunari-centric instead of changing POVs. I'd do this sometimes, so, yeah.

**Disclaimer: **SenBasa is CAPCOM'S and the plot is uketokugawaieyasu's

* * *

**[Chapter 6]**

When Mitsunari's eyes snapped open, the first thing he sees is darkness. It surrounds him like his vision is blocked by some thick fabric—yet he knows it isn't. Mitsunari looks down, and even the ground is pitch black. He turns to see if there is even a single tiny light in this absolute darkness—but there isn't. At least he doesn't think so, not from what he sees so far.

Mitsunari looks around, feeling very—extremely aware with his surroundings. He can feel his defense increases by reflex; he tries to step forward slowly, hesitantly. The ground is pitch black—just as everything that surrounds him right now. It's so dark and endless, that Mitsunari feels that if he moves somewhere—anywhere but the ground beneath him right now, he'd fall into the abyss.

Mitsunari's feet steps just fine on the surface, and though he's not sure why, his body tells him to run, so he does. He runs, but he doesn't feel like he _is_ running. It's like he's wasting his energy to stay in one place.

Slowly, Mitsunari stops to look around. There really is no light here—how is that even possible, Mitsunari wonders.

"…You are-" A familiar voice calls.

_That voice—_

Mitsunari turns around, and sees Ieyasu standing right in front of him. Mitsunari stares, not believing what he sees at the time.

"Ieyasu." He growls his name, stepping closer toward the old rival. "You're supposed to be—"

The other man nods.

"What are _you _doing here?" Mitsunari looks around, "Where are we?"

"This," Ieyasu starts, "Is the inside of the realm beyond your consciousness."

Mitsunari furrows his eyebrows, "You mean—this is only a dream?" Ah, now _that _makes sense. Why else would he still be able to meet with his dead rival—besides from the mirror inside his room.

He is inside his own dream, the dream that's made by the thoughts in his head. This is inside his dream; he should be able to control it. Now, he needs to tell himself to wake up.

Mitsunari shuts his eyes and chants, _wake up wake up wake up_ inside his mind, yet when he opens his eyes, Ieyasu is still there, though they're no longer inside the darkness. In fact, there is nothing but light there now. The light blinded him and he puts a hand in front of his eyes to shield them from the blinding light.

And just a mere second before he shields his eyes, he saw Ieyasu turning away from him.

Mitsunari moves his hand to look at him, but the light attacks his eyes without mercy and he's forced to shut his eyes once more. He can't see Ieyasu, but he knows that he's leaving him behind, inside this strange dream of his.

"Ieyasu!" He calls.

"I'm here, Mitsunari." Ieyasu responds.

Mitsunari's breath hitched. He can feel his anger builds inside his heart, but so does the strange feeling of happiness. He forces his eyes open—ready for the light that'll most likely turns his eyes blind. But it never came.

His surrounding is, again, changed. He's now in the middle of a room—a room that's full of mirrors. The room is more of a maze—built entirely with mirrors. It's a well designed maze, he admits. He can't see _him_ but Mitsunari is sure _he_ can see his reflection from one of the mirrors.

"Ieyasu?! Show yourself!"

Mitsunari hears a few footsteps and a second later, he can see Ieyasu's reflection in one of the mirrors near him. Mitsunari turns to face Ieyasu—the person, not the reflection.

"But I'm right here." Ieyasu says lightly.

Mitsunari eyes the Ieyasu in front of him. He looks like the Ieyasu he knew—not the one he sees in the mirror. He dresses the same as he did, clad in yellow as usual. Mitsunari steps forward, closer to Ieyasu.

"Which Ieyasu are you?" He hisses.

Ieyasu smiles and chuckles, "What are you saying? There is only 1 me in this world, isn't there?"

"No," Mitsunari rolls his eyes, "There is another you. I see him through the mirror in my room. He's from—"

"-From the future," Ieyasu continues.

Mitsunari stares at him, shocked. How can _this_ Ieyasu knows about _that _Ieyasu?

"Mitsunari, he's from the future, he's not me." Ieyasu says lightly, smiling as he does.

"He has the same name and he looks and acts exactly like you." Mitsunari pushes.

Ieyasu chuckles and shrugs, "Doesn't mean he's me."

Mitsunari frowns, "What are you trying to say?"

"That all this time you're actually talking to a stranger." Ieyasu smiles, "He comes from the future, but me? I lived in the same era as you do, Mitsunari—and I'm dead."

Mitsunari can't say anything to that. It's true, what he said. _That _Ieyasu isn't the Ieyasu he knew. The Ieyasu he knew is gone, dead by the very hand of his. They both may look exactly alike, but they're not the same person.

"You come to visit me all the way just to say that?" Mitsunari scoffs.

Ieyasu smiles at him and shrugs. Mitsunari can somehow see that his vision is blurring to the point he can't see Ieyasu's form clearly.

"Mitsunari, this is inside _your_ dream. Your dream is made by the thoughts in your head. This dream—you made it on your own. I never came to visit you, _I'm dead, remember?" _

* * *

Mitsunari's eyes snapped open. He eyes his surrounding and sighs in relief that he's now awake and inside his own room at the castle. As he rises and opens the shoji door, he realizes that he's up extremely late than he usually does.

The sun is high and he suddenly remembers of Ieyasu. It's usually Ieyasu's recess time at school, as Ieyasu told him. Mitsunari walks toward the mirror when _Ieyasu's _word echoes inside his head.

"_Mitsunari, he comes from the future. He's not me."_

Mitsunari pauses, hesitating. He's right, isn't he? He isn't Ieyasu—so why would he keeps on talking to _this _Ieyasu? Mitsunari stares at the mirror for a few seconds, turning away just before he'd be able to see Ieyasu.

"He's not… Ieyasu." Mitsunari whispers at himself.

Mitsunari turns and exits the room. He decides to take a stroll and goes straight to the garden. He walks so quickly that the workers in his castle don't get a chance to bow at him. He keeps increasing his speed though he doesn't know why himself.

Mitsunari passes Sachi on his way to the garden. As usual, the old maid bows deeply at him even from a quite distance away. Mitsunari pauses and stares at the old maid in front of him. He pats her shoulder and says,

"Stop the investigation. You don't need to look for the information again. Go back to your routine." And walks pass by her.

Sachi raises her head as she heard the order. She turns to stare at Mitsunari's back worried. She feels the need to go after him, but she still has some little things to do so she decides to go after him after she's done with her work.

Mitsunari heads toward Ieyasu and his usual spot as soon as he arrives at the garden. He seats himself comfortably and looks down to see the beautiful flowerbed that surrounds him. Mitsunari can feel his eyes getting warmer, and he brings his hand to his eyes to cover it.

"_He comes from the future, but me? I lived in the same era as you do, Mitsunari—and I'm dead."_

"_-and I'm dead."_

"Ieyasu—is dead." Mitsunari whispers like he's trying to remind himself. "Ieyasu is _dead."_ He clenches his fist until it bleeds.

Mitsunari stares at his bleeding fists and slams it to the ground, "_I_—killed—Ieyasu." Mitsunari says with a ragged breath.

Mitsunari loosens his fist and tries to calm himself down. His tears are falling, but he doesn't even bother to wipe it. There are a lot of feelings inside of him now. He keeps replaying Ieyasu's word from his dream.

" _This dream—you made it on your own. I never came to visit you_, _I'm dead, remember?"_

He made it _on his own._

Can it be that he actually knows deep down inside that the Ieyasu he's been seeing is actually _not _Ieyasu? Then why does he still talk to him—Can it be that it's only an act of him, playing play-pretend that Ieyasu is alive somewhere—anywhere but the world he's living right now?

_Why—_

_Why is he so desperate to keep Ieyasu alive—_

_When he's the one who killed him in the first place?_

"Regret," Mitsunari gasps, "This is an act of regret—isn't it?"

To regret killing Ieyasu—to go _this _far regretting killing Ieyasu—why would he do that? And when he saw Ieyasu in his dream, who looks like the Ieyasu he knew, he felt a surge of happiness. Like he's relieved to see that the Ieyasu he knows is still alive.

_This feeling,_ Mitsunari clutches his clothes. He shuts his eyes, trying to shoo the hurt feeling that's gnawing his heart. But it seems that it can't be shoo-ed that easily. _What is this feeling?_ Mitsunari clenches his teeth, trying to distract the pain in his chest.

"Mitsunari-sama?" a familiar voice calls.

Mitsunari turns to see a worried looking Sachi. The old maid carries a cup of tea in her hand. She sits gracefully in front of him, maintaining a decent distance with the general. She bows and offers him the tea, which Mitsunari gladly accepts.

"You look down." Sachi says casually and gently. Her tone is very gentle, it reminds him of the time Mitsunari was little, the time when she would read Ieyasu and he a bed time story, a time that's gone.

"Obaa-san," He calls. Sachi's eyes widened. It's been years since he last called her that. These days, he'd usually call her with "You.".

"W-what is it, young master?" She asks him. She eyes Mitsunari, worried. He doesn't even complain when she calls him that way. _Something _must be going on.

Mitsunari turns to face her, "What…is this feeling?"

* * *

_btw I checked the story's static yesterday and I was surprised to see the number of visitors and views (*ﾟﾛﾟ)_

_**Well, I just want to say hello!** I'm quite a silent reader myself so I won't force you guys to review ❤_

_But reviews is veeeeeeeery appreciated ( ˘ ³˘)❤_

So, how was this chapterrr?


	8. Chapter 7: Serves Him Right

**A/N: **An **extremely **late update! I'M SO SORRY TTATT I said the update should be normal, yes that's true. I wasn't lying, I swear! But I got myself into making a visual novel right now and I do the coding and the story too-so yes, I'm tired. My brain is sizzling from making stories over and over.

This chapter is short too :'' I'm sorryyyy. I did this chapter when I feel like I need a refreshing from all of those stupid code /rolls/. So, here goes!

**Disclaimer: **Senbasa is **CAPCOM**'S and the plot is **uketokugawaieyasu**'s.

* * *

**[Chapter 7]**

Unknown to Mitsunari, Ieyasu was actually waiting for him the day he decided not to talk to Ieyasu, probably just for that day—but possibly forever. Just to make it even, _that_ is unknown to Ieyasu as well, so both of them have some things that the other doesn't know.

But Ieyasu—poor Ieyasu actually sneaked into the school. He did the exact things as he planned. He climbed the school gate, got into the building from the cooking club room, sneaked into the Janitor's closet to steal the key, and opened the library's door _without even using the key._ The door wasn't locked that day. Well, damn that wasn't in the plan.

But Ieyasu was waiting in front of the mirror, staring at it. As usual, the image of Mitsunari came not so long after. The difference is, Mitsunari wasn't staring back at him. Mitsunari was still in his futon, he was looking down, and his body was shivering. That was the time Ieyasu realized that he can actually see Mitsunari, without having Mitsunari staring back at him.

That discovery was fun. Ieyasu smiled, wondering if Mitsunari has been doing what he was doing that time. Ieyasu watched as Mitsunari opened the shoji door and froze. He tilted his head, wondering why Mitsunari would freeze.

He didn't freeze for a long time though, a few seconds later, Mitsunari turned and stared back at him. Ieyasu's smile grew, he was waiting for this. He was very, very excited to talk to Mitsunari. He didn't bring his sketchbook that day. He was armed with his tablet instead. He bet Mitsunari would wonder what kind of thing he is using to communicate to him, since he doesn't even know marker.

But that smile didn't grow any wider, it fell instead. Mitsunari turned away after just a few moments. Ieyasu doesn't know the exact time they need to be able to see each other's image on the mirror, but one thing he knows, is that Mitsunari wasn't staring long enough to be able to see his image.

Ieyasu isn't a good mouth reader, but somehow, he could understand what Mitsunari was saying as he looked down after he turned away from the mirror.

"_He's not Ieyasu,"_ Mitsunari said.

Ieyasu was taken back, what was it about, he wondered. Of course he _is_ Ieyasu. What was he talking about?

Ieyasu dragged his chair closer. He was far too curious to let this go. Not so long after Mitsunari said that, he rushed toward the door, walking quickly outside. He saw how the workers inside his castle bowed at him, yet he didn't pay any attention at them. He passed by them like they weren't even there.

He passed by every one of them, except for an old maid. He watched Mitsunari as he stopped in front of the maid, he talked to the maid, but too bad Ieyasu couldn't understand what he was saying to the maid. He talked to the maid very fast, and left just like that. The maid looked back at him, but he didn't turn back to the maid.

Ieyasu watched silently as Mitsunari sit under a huge tree with flowerbeds surrounding it. He felt like knocking the mirror to have Mitsunari's attention so that he'd be able to ask Mitsunari if he was okay, because Mitsunari was bringing his hand to his face. He realized that Mitsunari's eyes were tearing up, though.

"_Ieyasu—is dead,"_ Ieyasu read Mitsunari's mouth.

Ieyasu was taken aback. Is that why Mitsunari refused to stare at the mirror long enough to see him? That's what it was about?

Ieyasu suddenly found himself couldn't focus on what Mitsunari was saying—or doing. He knew that Mitsunari was saying something, though. He also knew that Mitsunari's hands were suddenly bleeding.

"_Tokugawa Ieyasu and Ishida Mitsunari used to work under the same general, Toyotomi Hideyoshi,"_

He recalled some words from the information he read about Mitsunari when he was looking for information about him.

"_They used to be good friends."_

Ieyasu gasped.

Is that what it was about?

Is that why Mitsunari talk to him?

Is it because he has the same name as Ieyasu?

-that doesn't make sense. Wait, can it be that the Tokugawa Ieyasu Mitsunari knew looked the same as him?

Is he that identical to Mitsunari that he's willing to talk to him?

Ieyasu shook his head, trying to focus on Mitsunari once more.

"_It's an act of regret—isn't it?"_

Now that did it. Mitsunari said that himself. Ieyasu leaned back to his chair. Now he knew why Mitsunari would even talk to him. It was merely an act of regret of killing Ieyasu, his former good friend.

Slowly, Ieyasu rose and turned away. He walked wobbly toward the library door. He was greeted by a teacher, who was shocked to see Ieyasu inside the school at that day. He wasn't supposed to be there, of course. It's weekend after all.

Ieyasu brushed the teacher's question off, saying that he forgot something at the library. Being a trusted student he is, the teacher believed him right away. Ieyasu then excused himself and made his way out of the school. He was very, _extremely _disappointed, sad, and somehow—angry. But there was nothing to be done, wasn't there?

Ieyasu immediately went to a café, where he spotted a friend of his there. He approached him and asked him if he can join him. That friend gladly allowed him to. He and Ieyasu are good friends since a long time ago. That said, he can tell if Ieyasu is down, and Ieyasu _was _down. He looked really down, that it almost looked like he wasn't the Ieyasu he knew.

He asked him what's wrong, but Ieyasu laughed and said that it was nothing. They talked a lot then. Ieyasu tried to act normal, and laughed along with his friend.

To be honest, Ieyasu was just trying to forget about what he saw. He wanted to forget that he finally knows the truth, though he regretted knowing them. That's why he was talking to his friend, joking and laughing around, just to forget the hurt feeling he had, because it hurt, _a lot._

But at some point, tears were trickling down his cheeks when he was laughing. Concerned, his friend asked him what's wrong, but Ieyasu wiped it off and said that it was nothing, that it was because he laughed too much.

His friend, of course, didn't believe him. But he didn't push anymore. They continued to talk about this and that. But a few moments after that, his friend had to go and left him.

To be honest, Ieyasu needed someone to be around him so he could hold back his tears. Sadly, there weren't anyone he knew. True, he has a lot of friends, but if he called them and asked them to accompany him, they would ask him what's wrong and Ieyasu really didn't want to talk about Mitsunari.

He was trying to forget about Mitsunari.

He _had to._

But the more he tried, the more Mitsunari came to his mind.

Ieyasu held back his tears.

Then it came to his mind—

Why would he cry for Mitsunari? Was he really that close to him?

No, they weren't _that_ close for him to cry.

Yet—why?

No, wait. _Why did he even talk to Mitsunari in the first place?_

True, it was out of curiosity at the beginning. But if it was all, then he wasn't supposed to be crying, right? They were both curious about each other's world, so they weren't supposed to be attached anyway.

Ieyasu scoffed, that's right. It hurts, but that was caused by him. It wasn't Mitsunari's fault. He's a fool. Mitsunari took it the way it should be, and Ieyasu—he was getting ahead by himself, served him right for that.

Slowly, Ieyasu raised and left the café. Sunday was the day after that day; there is no school on Sunday. There is no need for him to go to school. There is no one for him to see, nor is there anything for him to do. Ieyasu sighed; perhaps he'd use the day to calm himself down.

And perhaps to forget about _him._

* * *

_Shortest. chapter. by far._

Please don't hate me :''

Tell me what you think!


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